ST. LOUIS - It didn't take long for Wade Redden to find work.
The veteran defenceman has reached a deal in principle with the St. Louis Blues on a one-year contract worth US$800,000, pending a physical.
The deal comes one day after the New York Rangers used their accelerated compliance buyout on Redden's contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Redden has spent the past two seasons with Connecticut of the AHL after managing just five goals and 35 assists in 156 regular-season games with the Rangers over two seasons. He signed a six-year, $39 million free-agent deal with the Rangers in 2008 to leave Ottawa, where he was an all-star.
The accelerated compliance buyout, approved in the new labour deal, means Redden will earn a pro-rated $3.341 million for this season plus two-thirds of the $5 million he was set to earn next season.
In 994 career NHL games, the 35-year-old Redden has 106 goals and 344 assists.
